Prime Minister Mark Carney stopped in at this Toronto cafe
Toronto residents who were grabbing coffee at a local café and bakery had to do a double-take this week when none other than Prime Minister Mark Carney popped in for a visit.
The visit, which had been planned in advance by Carney's team, was a surprise for customers at Cafe Belém, a Portuguese café and bakery located at 546 College St. in Little Italy.
The Prime Minister was joined by Liberal candidate for University—Rosedale Danielle Martin, who is currently on the campaign trail ahead of the federal by-election on April 13.
"It was truly a change to our Monday routine. A wonderful change and it meant the world to all of us here at Cafe Belém," the bakery's staff shared on Instagram. Videos shared by both the café and Martin show Carney sipping on a double espresso while greeting staff and customers sitting outside.
"The response from people has been mostly very positive, and we were happy to invite him into our café, as we would've been happy to invite any Prime Minister of any party," staff told blogTO.
"It has been a touch disheartening to see the amount of negative feedback and hate sent our way in messages due to differing political beliefs. In general, putting aside this bit of hate, everyone has shown great support."
Since sharing the video of Carney's visit, staff at the bakery have disabled comments on the post.
Carney also made another surprise stop in Scarborough during his time in the city. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister stopped by Jatujak Thai Restaurant, located at 2386 Kingston Rd., alongside Liberal candidate for Scarborough Southwest, Doly Begum.
"We had the incredible honour of welcoming Prime Minister Mark Carney and Doly Begum to our restaurant today! A truly once-in-a-lifetime moment for all of us," the restaurant's staff shared on Instagram. "Thank you for visiting Jatujak Kingston Road — a moment we'll never forget!"
"From the beginning, we were only informed that 'an important person' would be visiting our restaurant. It was still a surprise for us, as we only found out about a few hours before that it would be Prime Minister Mark Carney," staff at Jatujak told blogTO.
The restaurant says it received a "VIP takeout order" that included vegetable spring rolls, Jatujak fried rice with chicken, and pad see ew with chicken.
"He was very kind and friendly. We had the chance to exchange a few words with him, and we also welcomed him with a jasmine garland as part of Thai tradition. He interacted warmly with our team, took photos, and shook hands with our staff, which was a really special moment for us," staff explained.
"We feel very grateful for his support of a local family business and hope it continues to bring more people to our restaurant."
Carney's time in Toronto also included a joint announcement earlier this week with Premier Doug Ford, outlining a new partnership between the federal and provincial governments, which includes an investment of $8.8 billion over 10 years towards housing-enabling infrastructure projects.
@doc.daniellemartin/Cafe Belém
